Tuesday, 4 September 2012

Raspberry Reckoning

So given that I have a guest coming for dinner tomorrow I thought I'd whip up a dessert this evening so I could have it ready to go tomorrow as I'll be tight on time. This one is from my newest book of delectable treats, Lilly Higgins 'Make Bake Love'. This book is so inspiring, from the moment I wake up in the morning I'm thinking about what tasty treat I might conjure up that evening. I've changed a few things slightly (e.g. used granulated instead of caster sugar, low fat cream cheese and made it in a dish vs. the specified tin as that was all I had!). These bars are the perfect blend of soft and creamy with a tangy twist.Raspberry & White Chocolate BarsMakes about 12 barsIngredients:200g white chocolate75g butter175g self-raising flour125 Demerara sugar3 eggs250g cream cheese65g sugar (caster or granulated)1 egg yolk1 tsp vanilla essence 350g raspberries (frozen of fresh)Method1. Preheat from to 190°C.2. Line a tray or dish (approx. 28cm x 20cm) using some parchment paper.3. Then melt the butter and white chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Once melted, leave it to one side to cool a little.4. In a separate bowl, beat the flour, demerara sugar and eggs together (I used my handheld KMix mixer for this).Once well combined put into the tin..5. Then beat together the cream cheese, caster sugar, egg yolk and vanilla essence. Layer this over the chocolate mixture. Marble the two using the back of a spoon.6. Place in the oven for 20 minutes, then remove and disperse the berries on top (pushing some of them down slightly). 7. Place back in the oven for a further 25minutes. Then remove and allow to cool in tin before cutting into rectangles.

E-D's Notes

Firstly I need to share you my favourite white chocolate in the world! If there is one thing I love it's white chocolate, so believe me when making this dish it took everything in me not to chomp away on this luscious bar. It's by Choceur and is from Aldi of all places! The bar is €1.29, unbelievable value. It's nicer than any other white chocolate I've ever had (and trust me I've had a lot over the years) and anyone I ever get to taste is blown away by how creamy and smooth it is. It's a MUST buy.

Although I have a really pretty red manual Typhoon weighing scales in my kitchen I find my digital salter weighing scales pictured above so handy. You can put any bowl or container and set it to zero and weigh your quantities really accurately in either grams or ounces. I picked this one up in Argos for just €12.99 (Catolgue number for Argos is: 842/2996).

I'm keeping the bars in air tight tins for safe-keeping until tomorrow nights dinner party. When serving I'm planning to sprinkle with icing sugar for an extra sweet kick.

This recipe is adapted from 'Make Bake Love' by Lilly Higgins. Thanks to Lilly for coming up with such an incredibly creative recipe!